Detachable cover for helmets and the like



y 19 .F. oost-L 3,445,860

I DETACHABLE QOVER FOR HELMETS AND THE LIKE I v Filed'April 17, 1967FRED R005 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent 3,445,860 DETACHABLE COVER FOR HELMETS AND THE LIKEUS. Cl. 23 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A detachable cover forcrash helmets and the like is described. It includes a cap of pliablematerial that fits over the outside surface of the helmet. The cap haspanels made of an elastic fabric so that the cap may be stretched overthe helmet. The cap is held on the helmet by a plurality of elongated,thin, flat sided strips of flexible plastic which can bend sideways butnot edgewise. The longitudinal edges of the strips are attached to thecap along its edges fortucking under the edge of the helmet intoposition adjacent the inner surface of the helmet after the edges of thecap are stretched over the brim of the helmet. The strips will bendreadily sideways into engagement with the concave inner surface of thehelmet adjacent the edge or brim. Being stifi and relatively unbendableedgewise, the strips will resist being pulled out of engagement with theinside surface of the helmet by the pull of the elastic material of thecap.

This invention relates to detachable covers for helmets and the like.

Close fitting protective helmets are worn by motorcycle riders and racecar drivers. They are used by participants in such sports as football,skiing, and ice skating. When new, these helmets usually have a verysmooth clean finish. As they are used, however, the finish may becomescarred, and discolored. Even though the helmet may still provideprotection for the wearer, the lessening of its aesthetic appearance mayresult in its being discarded prematurely.

Further, it is prohibitively expensive to most people, to own enoughhelmets to have one to match the color of each different outfit withwhich the helmets are worn. This is a particular problem for the women.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a relativelyinexpensive detachable cover for helmets that will hide surfaceblemishes on the helmet and which can be used to change the color of thehelmet, as desired.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a helmet coverthat is easily placed on and removed from the helmet.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a helmet coverthat will fit the outside surface of a helmet snugly and evenly andwhich can be securely attached to the helmet without having to modifythe helmet.

Other objects, advantages, and features of this invention will becomeapparent during the course of the following description made withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view, in elevation, of a helmet with the preferredembodiment of the helmet cover of this invention attached;

rial having high impact resistance. Usually, they are provided with aninner lining that fits the head of the wearer and allows the helmet tobe worn comfortably. The lining also provides a shock absorbing materialbetween the wearers head and the helmet. In the drawings, this innerlining is not shown in order to simplify the drawings and to make iteasier to illustrate how the helmet cover of this invention is attachedto the helmet.

In FIGURE 1, the helmet is shown with the cover installed. The covercomprises cap 12 of pliable material that is shaped to fit over theoutside surface of the helmet. Preferably, at least a portion of thematerial of the cap is elastic and the cap is made smaller than thehelmet so it will have to be stretched over the helmet. So made,

it will tightly fit the outside surface of the helmet when installed.

Most helmets are provided with snaps 14 on their exterior surface topermit goggles to be attached to the helmet. Holes 13 are located in thecap to permit these snaps to extend through the cap to receive thesegoggles.

Means are provided for detachably securing the cap to the helmet. Inaccordance with this invention, these attaching means include aplurality of elongated attaching members attached to the edge of the capfor positioning adjacent the inside surface adjacent the brim of thehelmet upon which the cover is placed. In order for these members to beso placed and to hold the cap securely on the helmet, when so placed,they should have certain characteristics. They should be readilybendable along their longitudinal axis in a sideways direction towardand away from the inside surface of the helmet, but not in an edgewisedirection, which is the direction of the force exerted on the members bythe cap.

In the embodiment shown, attaching member 16 attaches the cover to thefront portion of the helmet. Attaching member 18 attachs the cap to theback of the helmet, and V shaped members 20 and 22 attach the cap tocars 10a and 10b of the helmet. In the preferred embodiment, theattaching members are cut from a flat, relatively thin sheet ofmaterial. Preferably, the material is sufficiently flexible to bendsideways but is stiff enough to resist bending edgewise. This result canbe obtained with many materials where the strips are relatively wide ascompared to their thickness. Also, preferably, the material has someresiliency so it will return to its original shape after being bent. Onesatisfactory material for this purpose is nylon.

Members 16 and 18' are relatively straight, whereas members 20 and 22are generally V shaped. They are sewn along the edges of the cap, asshown, to position themselves inside the helmet with one flat sideadjacent the inside surface of the helmet, as shown in the drawings,when the cover is installed.

For example, member '16 is attached to cap 12, as shown in FIGURE 5, sothat surface 16a will contact substantially all of adjacent insidesurface 10a of the helmet, when edge 26 of the cap is stretched overbrim 28 of the helmet and the member is tucked inside the helmet. Inthis position, member 16 must bend sideways to conform itself to theconcave inner surface of the helmet. Since, as explained above, it canreadily bend sideways it can conform to the curvature of surface 10a.The need for this flexibility is apparent from FIGURE 4. Member 16 isshown in dotted lines in the position it takes before being moved intoengagement with the inside surface of the helmet. In this position, itis bent sideways in the opposite direction from what it is when insidethe helmet.

After the member is installed the cap portion of the cover will pull onmember 16 with the force of the stretched elastic material of the cap.Since the member is under flexing stress and resists bending in aned'gewise G direction, which results because of the materials resistanceto compression it will resist being pulled downwardly out of engagementwith the inside of the helmet. In fact, to remove the cover, it isnecessary to pull the center of strip 16 outwardly to fiex the stripsideways away from the inside surface of the helmet until it is aboutstraight before it can be returned to the dotted line position of FIGURE4.

All that has been said with regard to member 16 is also true of member18. It is shaped the same substantially and holds the rear of the cap inplace over the back portion of the brim of the helmet.

Members 20 and 22 anchor the cap over the ears of the helmet. They aresewn to the cap in holding position since their shape prevents them fromturning downwardly as could members 16 and 18. Therefore, these membersare hooked over ear brim portion 24 as shown in FIG- URE 3, bystretching downwardly the elastic material of sections 12b and 120 ofthe cap. If the cap did not have at least some stretchable material init, these holding members would need to be split adjacent the apex ofthe V to allow them to be moved into and out of holding position in thesame manner as members 16 and 18.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth,together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the apparatus and structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of theclaims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matterherein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed 1. A detachablehelmet cover comprising a cap of pliable material shaped to fit over theoutside surface of a helmet and means for detachably securing the cap tothe helmet including a plurality of elongated individual 4 attachingstrips attached along one edge of each strip to the brim edge of the capfor positioning adjacent the curved inside surface adjacent the brim ofthe helmet upon which the cover is placed, said attaching strips beingreadily bendable in a sidewise direction to permit the strips to curveas required to engage a substantial portion of the curved inside surfaceof the helmet when the cap is placed on a helmet and its edges aretucked under the edges of the helmet, said strips being relatively stiifand unbendable in an edgewise direction to thereby resist bending in thedirection of the pull of the cap, said strips conforming to the interiorcurved surface of the helmet, said strips being under flexing stress dueto the pull of the cap on the tucked under strips and thereby resistmovement of said strips away from the interior surface of said helmet.

2. The detachable cover of claim 1 in which the attaching strips are offlat sided material.

3. The detachable cover of claim 2 in which the strips are sufiicientlyresilient to bend sideways into engagement with a substantial portion ofthe inside surface of a helmet which they are adjacent without beingpermanently deformed.

4. The detachable cover of claim 1 which at least a portion of the capis made of elastic material which must be stretched for the cap to fitthe helmet.

5. The detachable cover of claim 1 in which the attaching strips includetwo that are V-shaped to be positioned adjacent the inside surface ofthe ear flaps of a helmet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,150,381 9/1964 Braumkirchner2187 X 3,213,463 10/1965 Marchello 23 3,263,235 8/1966 Young 2--l87 XHERBERT F. ROSS, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

